Sunday’s Best Reviewed: Veep

Almost everything that got roundly reviewed earned top grades, but recappers truly loved Veep‘s climactic concept episode. It even beat a Game of Thrones that featured an epic battle that has been cited as one of the best on-screen fights in history (well, at least the best one between bastards). As Vulture‘s Jen Chaney colorfully observes, “Even if you’re the biggest pacifist since Michael Jackson declared that he was a lover and not a fighter, it was very difficult not to feel some amount of joy while watching Ramsay Bolton finally get what he deserved on this week’s Games of Thrones.” HBO had a huge night as all three of its shows eclipsed a 9.0 reviewer rating, as Silicon Valley‘s exploration of honestly in the tech world also fared well with Max Nicholson at IGN touting with reservations that the show “delivered yet another “turning the tables” storyline, but did so in such a way that hearkened back to other subplots in the season — and in entertaining fashion.” On to next week’s trio of finales!

Veep took a chance by throwing in a concept episode at the most climactic of dramatic moments: the House vote to determine Selina Meyer’s fate as the U.S. leader. And it pays off, as we gave it its only non-perfect score (and ours was still a rave). AV Club‘s Kate Kulzick hails the brave format for an episode that is “fantastic, the writers taking advantage of the opportunities presented by this format to explore the characters in new ways while delivering a consistently hilarious episode.” Jessica Goldstein at Vulture also loves the episode in general, but especially as Cliff’s Notes to explain what’s at stake: “Veep writers correctly assume we need something close to Schoolhouse Rock to walk us through the proceedings.”